Biologists at Tufts Univ. have succeeded in inducing one species of flatworm to grow heads and brains characteristic of another species of flatworm without altering genomic sequence. The new findings could be huge when it comes to learning a bit more bout physiological circuits as a new kind of epigenetics. By interrupting gap junctions-channels that connect cells together and provide a means of transcellular communication-Dr.
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Apparently, this was easier done if the G. dorotocephala was closer to the evolutionary timeline, providing clues how physiological circuitry can play a crucial role during the evolutionary process. Not only does the breakthrough add to our understanding of exactly what governs the growth of anatomy, but the knowledge gained may also have practical uses down the line, helping us better understand and even fix birth defects. Eventually, after a few weeks, the neoblasts of the flatworms reassert the original head and brain shapes, and the flatworms go back to being like they were, before they grew different heads and brains, according to Live Science. Researchers were able to motivate the development of head shapes of different species-specific by discontinuing gap junctions.
The research was conducted by a team from Tufts University.
However, unlike past experiments that have used gene manipulation to coax different body shapes from flatworms, the morphological changes were not permanent, UPI reports. For example, if such a flatworm is cut in half, it will soon regrow a new upper half from the tail, which includes a new head and brain, whereas the head section will regrow a tail.
The finding that head shape is not hard-wired by the genome but can be overridden by manipulating electrical synapses in the body suggests that differences in species could be determined in part by the activity of bioelectrical networks. It has been published this week in the global Journal of Molecular Sciences. To induce the head change, the team interrupted the electrical signals that travel along protein channels between cells. The changes were more than skin deep; they included not only the overall shape of the head but also the shape of the brain and the distribution of the worm’s adult stem cells. Perhaps due to the flatworm’s inherent regeneration abilities – although the researchers don’t know for sure – the worms began to reacquire their original head morphology weeks after completing the original transformation.
The researchers share that by modulating the connectivity of cells through electric synapses, they were able to obtain head morphology as well as mind pattern belonging to a totally different species from an animal with a healthy genome. Researchers were not only able to change the shape of head but changed the shape of the brain as well.
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Finally, lead co-author Maya Emmons-Bell says, “We’ve demonstrated that the electrical connections between cells provide important information for species-specific patterning of the head during regeneration in planarian flatworms”. For instance, it could lead researchers to figure out how to cause new biological structures to grow after an injury.
